Flights

What flights MCP server does

flights connects MCP clients to aviation data from the OpenSky Network through the Pipeworx gateway. It covers two related needs: observing aircraft that are transmitting now and resolving identifying information about aircraft or flight callsigns. The service can return live ADS-B details such as position, altitude, speed, heading, vertical rate, callsign, registration, aircraft type, squawk, and emergency status.

The route lookup is separate from live tracking. Given a callsign or flight number such as UAL1 or BAW117, it returns the airline and a scheduled origin-to-destination route, including airport names, IATA and ICAO codes, and coordinates.

How it works

A hosted MCP connection is available at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/flights/mcp. The gateway also exposes a full endpoint at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp; both use the same underlying Pipeworx service, while the flights endpoint lists this pack’s tools directly. Pack connections also expose shared Pipeworx meta-tools, including tools for discovery, routing questions across the catalog, and memory functions.

For local MCP configurations, @pipeworx/mcp-flights runs with npx as a stdio process and forwards requests to the hosted endpoint. It requires network access and has no offline mode. The tools can also be called over HTTP, including with a POST request to an individual tool endpoint.

Setup and configuration

Add the hosted endpoint to an MCP client:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "flights": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/flights/mcp"
    }
  }
}

For a local stdio connection, use:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "flights": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-flights"]
    }
  }
}

Anonymous calls are supported, with a daily limit of 50 calls. A free Pipeworx account and PIPEWORX_API_KEY raise the limit to 200 calls per day. Set PIPEWORX_META_TOOLS=1 on the npm bridge to include the gateway-wide meta-tools in its listed tools. Behind an HTTPS proxy, Node may require NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY=1 for its built-in fetch implementation to use the proxy.

Tools and capabilities

• get_flights_in_area searches currently airborne aircraft inside a supplied latitude and longitude bounding box.
• get_aircraft looks up one aircraft by ICAO24 transponder hex and can include its live position when it is transmitting.
• get_flight_route resolves a flight callsign or number to its airline and scheduled origin and destination.
• get_arrivals lists inbound aircraft descending toward an airport, ordered by distance, using an ICAO airport code.
• get_departures lists outbound aircraft climbing from an airport, also using an ICAO code and distance ordering.

A direct HTTP example is POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/get_flights_in_area with a JSON bounding box such as {"lamin":40.6,"lomin":-74,"lamax":40.8,"lomax":-73.8}.

Limitations and notes

Arrivals and departures provide a live ADS-B view, not a scheduled timetable. Historical time windows using begin and end require OpenSky credentials and work only when self-hosting; OpenSky is unreachable from cloud egress for those requests. Live results depend on aircraft transmitting ADS-B data. The gateway integration is independent and unofficial, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by OpenSky Network. The package is licensed under MIT.